


Alley Cats

by HonestMistake



Series: Fills for Chocobrosweek [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe, Animal Transformation, Bad Decisions, Cat/Human Hybrids, It all works out though, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2019-01-15 10:53:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12319587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HonestMistake/pseuds/HonestMistake
Summary: Gladio's lived his life one risky decision at a time, becoming a hunter really didn't help with that. So when fate sees fit to throw three really hot but not quite human men at him what's he supposed to do but go along with it?





	Alley Cats

Gladio stopped in front of the alley way dog tags knocking against each other as he took in the suspicious wall of darkness lurking where there should be light. He was a hunter and dark shadows like these in a town were bad news, the kind of bad news that left bodies and bloodshed in its wake. This darkness didn’t look like the natural sort either, this looked like someone had sealed off the alley and filled it with the darkest ink they could find. He stepped into the alley a hand on his broadsword and blinked in surprise as the darkness gave way to the well-lit alley he should have seen from the entrance. It was empty save for a few garbage cans and a dumpster at the end, the fire escapes were all too high to reach and there didn’t seem to be any doors that weren’t covered by a miasma of shadow. 

This felt enough like a trap to set his teeth on edge. He turned and reached out for the wall grimacing as his hand rested against the dark surface instead of slipping through it like he had earlier. It felt like glass, solid under his fingers and cold to the touch. This was the work of something unnatural, something that he probably shouldn’t face on his own. He picked up his phone and turned it on but one look at the screen had him cursing. “Damn no signal. Well that’s just great, I’m going to have a long talk with Dave once this mess is sorted out.”

A man stepped out of the shadows in front of him nearly bumping into his chest. Gladio backed away to give him space watching him warily for any sign that the man standing before him wasn’t human, but he didn’t look like a daemon. He looked human the blue shine of his eyes all he could see of the top half of his face under the shadows of his hood. His chin was slightly rounded like he hadn’t quite lost all his baby fat and it made him look like he was either still a teenager or had just reached his twenties. What he could see of his hair under his hood was dark and mussed up like he’d just rolled out of bed. He looked at Gladio like he knew him, eyes somehow softer than they should be after passing through a wall of darkness. There was something in the sinuous way he moved struck him as unnatural, almost predatory and Gladio found his hand reaching for his broadsword without realizing it.

“You had to go and vanish on us huh Gladio?” The hooded man’s voice was young, crisp, and heavy with longing as he rolled the words over in his mouth his arms casually stretching out over his head. “It took us forever to find you again.”

“Us, looks like you’re the only one here buddy, unless your friends are on the other side of that wall.” He said feeling somehow unsettled by the scrawny boy he could probably throw over his shoulder and toss into a dumpster without breaking a sweat. He knew his name; how did he know his name?

“Actually, he’s not the only one here, but I can’t blame you for looking over us. We’re really good at hiding in plain sight when we want to be.” The voice came from behind him and he turned on the balls of his feet his sword pulled into a ready position that deflated when he saw nothing there but a little gold furred cat with bright blue eyes that shined with more intelligence than the typical alley cat. 

“Please tell me that cat didn’t just talk.” 

“Prompto didn’t we talk about easing him into this?” The hooded man looked down at the cat hands on his hips and exasperation in his voice. 

“I think it’s too late for that now Noct, although I’m impressed with your control sealing the wall was a bit much.” An accented voice said from somewhere over his head and he looked up his eyes widening as he took in the coeurl lounging on one of the fire escapes its tail flicking lazily back and forth between the grates. 

“It got him here, though didn’t it Specs?”

“That may be but it also cost us time, we’ll have to rush this. I’m sorry Gladio you might be a bit disoriented when you awaken but we can’t risk losing you again.” The coeurl leapt from the railing and landed in front of him standing on two legs, his body having shifted in midair to something almost but not quite human. “Noctis the portal.” 

The hooded man’s eyes flared up with energy turning a burning violet red as the wall of darkness behind him burst into bright blue tinted light. Wind filled the alley with an unnatural screeching and the force of it sent him stumbling back into the portal. There was a sound like water crashing into rocks, like glass shattering against the floor, like thunder roaring in his head, and then there was a silence so deep he could feel it crawling through him, a stillness that settled in his bones so they felt as brittle as glass. Claws of light dug into him, painlessly tearing into his flesh to flood through his veins and the hollows of his bones. Too much, so much more power than he could take and it kept flooding into him until the darkness stole him away into peaceful oblivion.

 

Gladio groaned into wakefulness and rolled over out of the path of an annoyingly persistent sunbeam. Astrals, his brain was killing him, it felt like he’d stuffed it in a blender and poured it back into his head with a few rocks thrown in for good measure. Pain trailed up and down his body a throbbing steady ache that sent pins and needles down his too tight skin. Nausea roiled in his stomach as his head swam the world around him feeling like it was spinning out of control. He groaned and pressed his face into the cool pillow the scent wafting off it an ozone and spice that curled in his nose and tingled like static covered over the pain like a blanket. It smelled safe and familiar and it was nearly enough lure him back into sleep. 

Harsh whispers cut through the emptiness the voices sounding strangely familiar in a dreamlike way. “You should do it Prompto, out of the three of us you’re the least threatening one.”

This Prompto scoffs his voice lowering into a vaguely threatening tone. “If he kills me you’re not invited to my funeral.”

He turns toward the source of the voice and shock sets in as his eyes focus on ears, large triangular golden ears sit on top of the blondes’ head and these aren’t like the fake ears that people like to wear at costume parties, those look almost comically unnatural compared to these. Dreaming, he has to be dreaming, there’s no way he’s awake and the thought is strangely comforting.

His hand moves without him realizing, his fingers bypassing the steaming cup of tea to brush against the outer edge of the ear. It’s soft and warm as it twitches against his fingers tickling them as it bends back against his head to escape the touch. His breath hitches as his fingers slide through the silky hair and rest against the base of the ear his nails scratching against the base. The blonde blushes, red spreading out between his freckles and over his cheeks a purr reverberating in his chest. A flicker from the corner of his vision brought his attention to a golden tail flicking back and forth. He fingers trail down from the ears skimming down his shoulders and back and over the curve of his ass before gently gripping the tail and letting it slide out of his grip like silk. 

“Here Ignis says you shouldn’t eat anything for a few hours, but this should help to settle your stomach.” Blondie grabs his hand and presses the cup into it his voice high pitched and warbling under the force of the purr.

The heat from the cup and the scent of the peppermint wafting from the tea send a jolt through him as the hot liquid spills over his fingers bringing with it a clarity that cuts through his dreamlike state like a hot knife through butter. He looks up into wide blue violet eyes his brain struggling to make sense of the creature in front of him because there’s no way that he’s actually being served tea by a cat person right now. His heart hammers away in his chest as his hand tightens around the blondes’ wrist, he’s not thinking but he hears a hiss of pain, but it doesn’t register. 

“Gladio let him go.” The words strike through him like thunder cutting through the fog like sunlight, they’re more than words, there’s power built up in them and it makes his skin feel like it’s stretched too tight over his muscle. It makes his bones feel hollow and brittle and his eyes feel sharp like he can see every dust mote in the room clear as day, but it’s not a bad feeling. He feels alive, like he’s just been struck by lightning and lived, like he’s just fought off something huge by himself and won, like he looked death in the face and laughed. His fingers uncurl of their own accord and Prompto slips out of his grip with an apologetic smile as the feeling fades down into something more manageable.

He looks at the source of that voice, the hoodie is gone but he recognizes the dark haired young man from the alley. His eyes are glowing lit from within with a red that makes the blue of his eyes look purple. His ears are flat against his head cat like and silky black, it’s hard to tell where the hair ends and the ear begins. Standing behind him is the coeurl, his green eyes calculating behind his glasses.

“You don’t remember us.” The coeurl says his voice oddly gentle as he presses his glasses back up his nose leaning down into his space. It’s not a question and even if it was the answer is clear to see. He turned to look at the other two, Prompto having gone to stand beside the others. “We knew that this could be a possibility, we were only children at the time and something like this, in your world they would have convinced you it was just a dream to be forgotten.” 

“Yeah, we knew, but that doesn’t make it easier.” The dark haired one walked up to Gladio and gave him a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I guess we’ll just have to start from the beginning then. I’m Noctis, you can call me Noct, the guy with the glasses is Ignis but you can call him Specs or Iggy, and the blonde guy is Prompto, you can call him Prom though.”

“We brought you here because we wanted to see you again, but we don’t intend on keeping you here if you don’t wish to stay. If you wish to leave we will return you to the alley we procured you from and it’ll be as though you never left at all.” Ignis says as he takes the cup he’d forgotten about from his hands before he could spill it.

“So, I’m free to go, just like that?” Gladio looks between the three of them but although Prompto seemed a bit on edge, probably due to being grabbed earlier, the other two seem honest. Noctis is pretty easy to read and he has a feeling he’d be able to tell if he started lying, he was good at that. 

“Just say the word and I’ll open the portal.” Noctis said and Gladio watched his face nodding to himself when he looked sincere.

Noctis snapped his fingers a blue crystal forming like a flickering candle flame above his thumb, it grows becoming the size of a small window. He looks at the faint wavering outline of the alley he can just barely see through the nearly blinding light of the portal and reaches out his fingertips just barely skimming the edge of the portal. He presses against it just enough for his fingers to slip through and satisfied he brings his hand back. Noctis snaps his fingers again and the portal sputtered out into the ether.

“Yeah but I would recommend waiting until your head settles down a bit, portals can be murder on the senses if you’re not used to them. Oh, and you should eat too, if only so you have something to throw up when you make it back. Trust me dry heaving isn’t fun when you feel like your head’s about to burst.” Prompto nodded sagely as he dispensed his wisdom with a grimace on his face that ruined the effect.

“Okay good to know, but how am I supposed to know you?” Gladio asks as he turns so that he’s sitting facing them with his arms crossed over his chest. 

“Well you only just met me, by the way I’m sorry if I freaked you out, but you’ve met Noctis and Ignis before.” Prompto says with a little wave and a smile that should probably be illegal when combined with those ears and his eyes. 

“Back when we were kittens Ignis and I fell through a portal into the human realm after we were attacked and separated from our families. I thought we were going to die, but then you found us and took care of us. You saved our lives and thanks to you Cor was able to find us and bring us home. We were only brave enough to transform in front of you on our last day there. We asked you to come with us, you said yes, but Cor said that you needed to stay. So, we had to say goodbye.”

The words strike a chord reverberating through him and shaking the dust off a long-forgotten memory. It’s dim and hazy in a dream like way but he remembers holding two kittens against his chest zippered up in his jacket to keep them warm and out of the rain. He shivered as their rain drenched fur soaked through his shirt, their little claws dug into his chest. He remembers hiding them in his room and drying them off with a nest of towels and the lowest setting of his moms blow dryer. Once they were dry he was surprised to see that one of the little fuzz balls wasn’t black like he’d assumed they both were but was a sandy color with coeurl spots on its coat. 

They curled up next to him that night after he snuck them something to eat and a bowl of water. His mother had gotten weird about spices lately so he was able to get them her leftover steak. It was unseasoned but spices weren’t supposed to be good for cats so it worked out pretty well. The kittens hadn’t stayed hidden for long. He’d probably given it away when he’d asked his parents for canned tuna given how much he’d hated it. They’d found the kittens within an hour and brought them and him into the living room. They had looked at him with a look he knew meant they were going to say something he didn’t like and they told him he couldn’t keep the kittens. They’d made him take pictures of them and put up signs reminding him whenever he said it was unfair that wouldn’t it be unfair if he purposely kept the kittens from their real owner. 

A few days passed when they got a call from a man named Cor who’d lost his two kittens and his descriptions fit Night and Smoke perfectly. He nearly cried when he was told that they were going away and he went back into his room to spend as much time with them as he could. Only when he got back to the room he didn’t find a pair of kittens but two boys a bit younger than him with ears and tails like cats. He’d stared at them dumbstruck and the memory grew fuzzy again only a few things remaining, like how excited he’d been to have found magic kittens and something about a proposal so they wouldn’t have to be separated. 

“It’s a bit fuzzy but yeah I might remember that, I think one of you asked me to marry you.” He gestured vaguely toward Noctis and Ignis.

Noctis laughed his eyes bright and ears perked. “Yeah, I did, the offers still on the table if you still want to marry me of course you’d have to be willing to marry Ignis and Prompto too. We’re kind of a package deal.”

“What if I do want to marry you?” He doesn’t want to, at least he thinks he doesn’t. Okay so he’s pretending that the idea doesn’t hold any appeal despite his imagination enthusiastically suggesting otherwise. But in his position who could blame him they’re all really good-looking guys and though animal ears aren’t usually his thing it works for them. Either way the face Noctis makes is priceless. 

He flushes red like someone flicked a switch to turn on a light. The slit of his pupils is wide and hungry his ears and tail stiffly standing on end, before smoothing over too quickly his whole body seeming to thrum with nervous energy. Gladio chuckles to himself as Noctis’ ears flicker in irritation. “Shouldn’t dish it out if you can’t take it.” 

His breath suddenly hitches at the firm slide of hands up his sides, long fingers scratching into his skin with just enough pressure to feel good. His shirt is pulled up and when it reaches the shoulders Gladio allows them to divest him of the garment leaving him bare chested and showing off the tattoo that covers most of his upper body. There’s teeth at his neck biting down hard enough to make him see stars his breaths turning into pants as a tongue that’s a bit too rough laves over it. The tongue is followed by kisses that are rough and soft in turns working over the bite until he knows he’s going to have to wear a scarf or something to hide it. 

Ignis, he has no idea how the coeurl managed to sneak up on him like this but he’s not complaining, pulls away for a second with a quick nod in the corner of his vision that he almost misses when he feels the bed dip under another body. He hisses as another pair of fangs attach to the other side of his neck biting down and nipping at his skin a tail thumps across his back silky smooth and harder than he’d expected a tail to hit. It’s Prompto, it has to be because Noctis is in front of him sharp teeth bared in a grin that’s sharp with promise. He lowers himself between his knees and grabs his jaw in both hands coaxing him down into a kiss that sends his head reeling as a rough tongue slides over his own and fills his mouth with the heady taste of magic. 

“You shouldn’t dish it out if you can’t take it.” Ignis’ voice is impish in his ear as his fingers claw against his scalp, he licks at the shell of his ear the slightly rough sensation sending shivers down his spine. “We can stop at any time.”

Gladio’s hand comes up to hold Ignis in place just long enough to pull him into a bruising kiss. He tastes like coffee and spice and it’s so good he chases it into his mouth searching and wanting. He pulls away with his voice heavy as his lips pull back in a smirk. “Oh, I can take it.”

**Author's Note:**

> The End?
> 
> I may be continuing this but first I need to build up my confidence enough to try writing smut.


End file.
